Brief Biography-Anton Raphael Mengs was born in Ústí nad Labem, called Aussig in German. His first tuition was by his father, Ismael, a Danish artist who eventually settled in Dresden. He brought Anton to Rome when he was thirteen, where he copied the works of Raphael; the paintings went to Dresden for the Elector of Saxony, Augustus III. Mengs became a painter for the Saxon court in Dresden, mainly doing portraiture. He spent considerable time in Rome and was acquainted with Johann Joachim Winckelmann, the German archaeologist and art historian who helped pioneer the neoclassical movement. Neoclassicism influenced Mengs greatly, becoming known as one of the first neoclassical painters. He is, however, more associated with the style of Baroque. The paintings of Antonio da Correggio and Titian influenced his later work. One of his contemporaries was Pompeo Girolamo Batoni, a portraitist formerly of the Rococo style. In 1762, he wrote the treatise, Reflections on Beauty and Taste in Painting. He worked on palaces for the Spanish court in Madrid under Charles III of Spain and undertook works for the Vatican in Rome. He also completed paintings in Saint Petersburg. The depiction of Parnassus at Villa Albani in Rome was one of his most noted works. Mengs died in Rome in 1779.
His copy of Raphael’s The School of Rome hangs in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.